!!!Waidhofen an der Ybbs

Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Lower Austria, chartered town in the district 
of Waidhofen an der Ybbs, alt. 362 m, pop. 11,435, area 
131.52 km%%sup 2/%, main town in the  Eisenwurzen iron-working 
region, located in a deep valley basin of the River Ybbs. - District 
commission, forestry enterprise of the Oesterreichische Bundesforste 
AG, chamber of labour, economic chamber, Institute for Economic 
Development (WIFI), district chamber of farmers, local health and 
social insurance office, Buchenbergheim sanatorium, Kolpingwerk 
(apprentice relief organisation) centre, Reichenauerhof youth home of 
the province of Lower Austria, sports hall, town library, municipal 
hall, Volksheim educational association, multi-purpose hall, School 
Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi, 
Bundesrealgymnasium secondary school, commercial academy, Hoehere 
Technische Bundeslehr- und Versuchsanstalt (upper secondary school of 
engineering), Bundeskonvikt federal boarding school, forestry school, 
adult education centre, district head office of the EVN Lower Austrian 
power services, waterworks, road maintenance services, regional 
innovation centre; 4,485 employed persons (1991), approx. 54 % in 
the services sector (personal, social and public services, trade); 
manufacturing sector: metal-working industry (traffic signs, noise 
protection structures, materials handling technology, lift doors, et.) 
and plastics-processing industry, office furniture manufacture, 
manufacture of filters. - First documented mention in 1186, first 
documented mention of town status in 1273, until 1803 owned by the 
Freising diocese, economic centre of the Ybbstal valley since the 
14%%sup th/%  century, located on an important iron-trading route, 
ironworking. Regularly laid-out medieval town with 2 squares, town 
fortress and town tower (extended in 1535-1542); parts of the town 
wall (13%%sup th/%  century) with Ybbstor gate and towers integrated 
into the surrounding buildings have been preserved; parish church 
(first documented mention 1186), late-Gothic hall church (around 
1470), late-Gothic winged altar (1474), Baroque chapel of the Virgin 
Mary (1715), richly decorated with stuccoes and frescoes; parsonage 
with late-Baroque façade, painting by M. J. Schmidt 
(1793); chapel of St. John, twin chapel (14%%sup th/%  century) 
with Baroque Holy Sepulchre group of sculptures; late-Gothic hospital 
church with former citizens´ hospital, altars (mid-17%%sup th/%  
century), monumental group of the Triumphant Christ (18%%sup th/%  
century); former Capuchin church (1644-1652) with statue of the Virgin 
Mary (around 1520) and altar painting by M. J. Schmidt (1762); 
castle (1407), today school of forestry, 1885-1887 alterations by 
F. von Schmidt, with Gothic keep and remains of frescoes (around 
1400); column dedicated to the Virgin Mary (1665); museum (founded in 
1905) on local history and the development of the iron industry, 
collection of paintings, K. Wilhelm collection of toys; museum of 
local history and culture (Piaty collection); permanent collection, 
"Stadt der Tuerme", in various towers throughout the town 
("Stadtturm", "Schlossturm" and "Ybbsturm"); late-Baroque parish 
church (1784-1786) in the Zell district of the town, with Rococo side 
altars, statue of the Virgin Mary (beginning of the 16%%sup th/%  
century), craftsmen´s houses and workshops on the River Ybbs 
from the 16%%sup th/%  and 17%%sup th/%  centuries, Schwelloed 
exhibition power plant.

!Literature
E. Freunthaller et al., Waidhofen an der Ybbs, 1953; 
Oesterreichisches Staedtebuch, vol. IV, part 3, Die Staedte 
Niederoesterreichs, 1982; P. Maier, Fuehrer durch das Heimatmuseum 
Waidhofen an der Ybbs. Ein Spiegel der Stadtgeschichte, 1993; P. 
Maier, Waidhofen an der Ybbs, 1993.


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